Key-lever construction for type-writing machines.



O. PETERIVIANN.

KEY LEVER CONSTRUCTION FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

APPLICATION man OCT. 21, 19H. RENEWED DEC. 14.1916.

Lwfifiwu Patented Jul 10, 1917.

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OTTO PETERMANN, OF GROTON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CORONA TYPEWRITEE. COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

KEY-LEVER CONSTRUCTION FOR TYPE-WRITING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 111), 191?.

Application filed October 21, 1911, Serial 1V0. 656,004.. Renewed December 14, 1916. Serial No. 137,059.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, O'r'ro PETERMANN, a citizen of the Republic of Switzerland, and a resident of Groton, county of Tompkins, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key- Lever Construction for Type-Writing Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates more particularly to the key-levers of typewriting machines and that part of the key-levers which operates the universal bar and connects with the type-bars.

The main object of the invention is to provide simple and efficient means which will permit ready adjustment between the key-levers and the universal bar even after the machine has been assembled in order that each key-lever may properly operate the universal bar without bending the body of the key-levers as is the method usually employed for such purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple means which may form a ,connection between the key-levers and the typebars and in such a Way that said connection may be readily bent or adjusted to connect with and properly operate said type-bars.

A further object of the invention is to provide key-levers which may be readily made and assembled and which key-levers each have two bendable tongues one to connect with the type-bars and the other to operate the universal bar.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention will be hereinafter more particu-' larly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and will then be pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawing, the single figure is a longitudinalsection, partly in elevation, of a machine showing one form of my invention applied thereto. 1

While I have shown the invention as applied to a form of machine such as set forth in the patent to Frank S. Rose, No. 948,553, dated February 8, 1910, in which the platen and carriage is adapted to be folded forward over the keys to adapt the machine to occupy less space than when in use, it will be understood that the invention may be applied to various kinds of typewriting and similar machines.

The frame 10 may be of any suitable construction, and extending transversely thereof is a rod 11. This rod 11 is connected to slides or shift rods 12 located at the rear corners of. the machine frame and which are adapted to move vertically in posts or brackets 13. The slides 12 are connected to a support 14 comprising a plurality of members or bars which are pivoted together in pairs, as at 15, so as to adapt-certain of the members to be folded forward. On the forwardly foldable members of the support 1 1, is arranged a carriage bed 16 along which the carriage 17 is adapted to travel, and mounted in the carriage is a platen 18.

Any suitable escapement mechanism may be employed, such for example as disclosed in the patent hereinbefore referred to, in which a rack is held to the carriage and a carrier having dogs is pivotally held to the carriage bedto control the carriage in its letter-spacing movement. The dog carrier or part thereof is adapted to be engaged by a transversely-extending bar 20, and this bar is mounted at its opposite ends in rocking arms 21. These rocking arms are pivoted on the transverse rod 11 and have vertical slots 22 which are engaged by the screws 23 of bell-crank levers 24. These bell-crank levers, one at each side of the machine, are pivoted at 25 to the brackets 13 and have one arm, as the arm 26, pivotally held at 27 to the upright parts 28 of a universal bar 28*, the said universal bar having a horizontal portion 29 extending across the machine. The parts thus far referred to may be of the usual or of any preferred constructlon.

A plurality of key-levers or key-operated levers 30 are mounted on transversely-entendmg rods or supports three rods 31 to adapt the key-levers to be arranged in banks or groups, each "oup being supported by one of said rods. %aol1 lever 30 is provided with a finger portion or key 32 at one end, and has a projecting portion 33 intermediate its ends, and a second portion of a like nature connected by a bar 34; to adapt each key-lever to be properly supported at two points along its sup porting rod 31. A spring 35 is arranged for each lever and each spring is held at one end to a rod 36 and its other end to the key-lever, as at 37, tending normally to force 31. There are the key-lever downwardly, and preventing the key-lever from being displaced in case the machine should be inverted for any purpose whatever.

Each key-lever should be readily adjustable with respect to the universal bar and also with respect to its connection with the key-operated type-bar, and to secure this, each key-lever has an ear, tongue, or part 38 which is connected by a link 39 to a typebar 40. The type-bar 40 is pivoted at 41 to a hanger 42 and at the other end thereof is provided with a type-head or block 43 on which are a plurality of characters or type, according to whether the platen is shifted for capitals or figures or both. Each keylever has a tongue, ear or part 44 which is spaced from the tongue 38 by a space or opening 45. The tongue 38 may be bent relatively to the body portion to properly adjust the action of the type-bar and the keylever, and the tongue 44 may be also bent without affecting the body of the key-lever in order that it may properly engage the universal bar 28*, the universal bar being connected to operate the escapement mechanism in the manner hereinbefore described or in any preferred way. By providing the ears or parts 88 and 44, it will not be necessary to bend the body of the key-levers and by arranging the adjustment at the end as shown, the key-levers and type-bars-may be adjusted to work properly after the machine has been assembled. This means also permits an adjustment to besecured whereby the escapement may be trlpped during the last quarter of the printing movement and the carriage caused to move for letter spacing during a comparatively small part of the movement of the type-bar, thus prevent-.

ing the piling of letters on each other.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that simple and eflicient means is provided whereby the key-levers may be readily adjusted with relation to the universal bar in avery simple and efiective way and after themachine has been assembled; and that simple means is also provided whereby an adjustment may be secured between the key-levers and type-bars entirely independent of the universal bar adjustment means.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as'new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a typewriting machine, a key-operated lever adapted to be suspended from a support andhaving its body normally lying in a substantially horizontal position and provided with a key at one end located forward of its support and provided with an extended portion at the rear of said support terminating in-two short spaced tongues located adjacent to each other and at the rear end of said body, one tongue being bendable independently of the body and adapted to engage the universal-bar to adapt a series of levers to act uniformly upon said universal-bar and the other tongue adapted for connection with a type-bar to move said type-bar when the key is depressed.

2. In a typewriting machine, a key-operated lever adapted to be suspended from a support and having. its body normally lying in a substantially horizontal position and provided with a key at one end located forward of its support and provided witha curved portion at the rear of said support, said curved portion terminating in two short spaced tongues located adjacent to eachother and at the rear end of said body and in substantially the same plane as the lever body, one tongue being bendable independent of the lever body and adapted to engage the universal-bar to adapt a series of levers to act uniformly upon said universal-bar and the other tongue adapted for connection with a type-bar to give a pushing actionto said type-bar when the key is depressed.

This specification signed and witnessed this eighteenth day of October, A. D. 1911.

' OTTO PETERMANN. Witnesses:

Lnonm M. BAOKUS, C. T. YATES. 

